Johanna Shapiro, PhD
A dying leaf falls
No! A yellow butterfly,
it flutters, then soars
8/29/24
Miscellaneous Poems
Conversation with a tee shirt
When I open my closet
I see a tee
nestled among others
End Hunger
Save Tibet
Peace Not War
White letters on black
Black Lives Matter
It is carefully washed
neatly folded
empty and flat
It stares at me
Implacable
You Think You Know Me
Johanna Shapiro
You think you know me
but you don’t
You think you know how to help me
but you don’t.
Does he hit you? You wonder
I don’t want to sound
like our former president
but I have to ask
What do you mean by “hit”?
Because it’s true he can be rough
but it’s not like
he’s beaten me to a pulp.
Conch Shell
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
Once
on a beach in a distant land
holding my mother’s hand
I found a conch
perfectly whole
its smooth pink interior
irresistible
Hold it to your ear
my mother said
You will hear the sea
Waiting
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
(November, 2004)
The bad news is
You might have ovarian cancer
The good news is
You might not
Wait two weeks
We’ll do surgery
To find out.
You scream, you rage
You revise your will
But you wait two weeks
Which seem like two years
Then surgeons split you
Down the middle
Peel you apart with retractors
Plunge in, snip and cut
These are Your Doctors
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
These are your doctors
drinking themselves into oblivion
jumping off rooftops
huddled sobbing on a bridge
sinking to the floor
outside their patient’s room
They know how to choose
Just the right drugs
to make the world disappear
they know exactly where
to place the gun
Breaking Bad News
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
What breaks?
Something breaks for sure.
What is it?
The news?
The words shatter
sharp shards spilling out
all around us
The doctor?
It looks like something
is breaking inside her
Poor doctor
Her face is cracking
Me?
I am already wrecked
already broken
That is no news at all
TTP
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
18 year old boy
No one expected hij to die
But he did anyway
Blood everywhere
Social worker: I should have prepared mom better
Resident: We quickly went on with our rounds
Other patients to see
No choice
Social worker: He reminded me of my son
Resident: He reminded me of my brother
Too bad
ACCIDENT on PCH
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
We are sitting
drinking coffee, laughing
talking about our kids
The day is bright and happy
The air is crisp, the sky blue
the clouds white, the trees green
The people around us
are laughing too
glad to be
drinking coffee on such a day
Last Patient of the Day
Johanna Shapiro, PhD
It was late in the afternoon and the family medicine clinic had been unusually busy – filled with medically complicated patients whose life circumstances were even more complex. And it was the start of July, when yesterday our learners were medical students somewhere, and today they were our doctors.
As a behavioral health specialist who participates in the training of residents, I was observing one of the new interns as he started his final interview of the day. It appeared a straightforward case – according to the chart, the patient had “a cold.” The intern, visibly exhausted and also visibly relieved that he was almost home free, at least for today, began his interrogation.